2of 3Doug Ghim hits on the first hole during the first round at the Masters golf tournament Thursday, April 5, 2018, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)Photo: Chris Carlson, STF / Associated Press

3of 3Low amateur Doug Ghim is presented with a trophy by Augusta National Golf Club member Fred Ridley after at the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 8, 2018, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)Photo: Chris Carlson, STF / Associated Press

AUSTIN — By the time dawn rolled over Augusta National Golf Club last Saturday, only one amateur remained standing amongst the Masters field.

Texas senior Doug Ghim made the cut, and he did it with flair. Not only did the 2017 U.S. Amateur runner-up sink the first eagle of the tournament on No. 13, he finished his opening round by holing another eagle from 179 yards out to get back to par.

“I’m going to be honest,” Ghim wrote in his Masters blog for Golfweek, “I spent a lot of time just sitting around the house last night watching videos of my hole-out on No. 18. I couldn’t believe it, and the video with Nick Faldo and Jim Nantz commentating in the booth was especially cool.”

Despite carding a second-round 76, Ghim did enough to slide in under the cut line, which settled at five-over-par. That assured him of winning the Silver Cup, awarded annually to the low amateur in the field. He now shares a historic distinction with Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson and Jack Nicklaus, among others.

“To be at the top of the amateur leaderboard and to make the cut at the Masters, I’m so honored,” Ghim wrote. “I fought. I did everything I could to make sure I didn’t get down on myself because that’s what this golf course wants you to do. I felt like I did the best that I could to stay focused, stay positive and just try to stick it through.”

The rest of Ghim’s weekend was filled with the typical peaks and valleys of an amateur maneuvering through the minefield that is the Masters. With his father Jeff on the bag, Ghim went 74-74 over the final two days to finish tied for 50th.

His final 36 holes featured six birdies, 12 bogeys, and yet another eagle on 13 — his third — making him the first amateur with that many since 1959.

Ghim closed his first Masters by holing out on No. 18 from a green-side bunker as Nantz’s honeyed voice narrated. Father immediately wrapped son in a bear hug and planted a kiss on his right cheek.

“For me as a coach, today has been a surreal day,” coach John Fields said. “Doug Ghim had four rounds at Augusta that were sensational to say the least. To hole his final shot on 18 out of the bunker on national television with Nick Faldo and Jim Nantz commentating — you couldn’t script it any better. For Doug, 18 was kind to him. It was just an incredible way to finish the golf tournament and he got as much great experience as you can get as an amateur.”

Entering the tournament, Ghim compared his game to UT alumnus Jordan Spieth, a former champion who embarked on one of the greatest closing rounds in Masters history to finish third behind winner Patrick Reed and runner-up Rickie Fowler.

Like Spieth, Ghim doesn’t possess the raw power of Woods or Dustin Johnson. He relies instead on meticulous planning and an ingrained knowledge of the game.

“(Spieth) doesn’t blow you away with how far he hits it,” Ghim said. “He’s incredibly consistent. He’s very smart. He’s very prepared. He is hardly ever surprised where his ball ends up. He always seems to know where he can put it on that next shot and see if he can make a par if he’s out of position. And if he does look for birdie he ends up capitalizing.”

But Ghim, who is from Arlington Heigths, Ill., is no Spieth. Not yet. And maybe not ever.

Ghim, 22, is already older — by nearly three months — than Spieth was when he captured the green jacket in 2015. He wasn’t exactly preordained for greatness like other legendary Longhorns seemingly were.

The lineage — from Tom Kite and Ben Crenshaw to Justin Leonard to Spieth — is impressive, though Ghim won’t back down from trying to rise to those heights. The reigning Big 12 player of the year and Golfweek’s No. 2 amateur can make some more magic in June’s U.S. Open, where he has an exemption.

One thing is for certain: Ghim has the talent and nerve to make a splash on the PGA tour when he turns pro after graduating in May.

“Every single day I’ve been here I’ve been feeling a little bit better about my game and controlling the nerves and being able to perform the way I wanted to,” Ghim said Sunday. “I was a little frustrated at a certain point, I felt like I was playing better than what my score showed and I knew that I could have done better and I made some mistakes that I usually don’t make.

“Just to be able to say that I was a participant and to have experienced it was really cool. I really hope to be back here someday. I mean, I really hope that I have a chance, if not a couple, at this tournament, and I’m going to work as hard as ever to make it back here and hopefully contend one day.”